This is a spiritual practice. It has been given to Humanity so it might be able to respond to the growing planetary necessity for Human Unity and Cooperation. We are encouraged to undertake Steps to Knowledge. This site is a simple aid to introduce people to this practice. There is much more to learn for anyone who becomes a student. As a Steps student since June 27, 1999, I am a witness for its benefit. Tom Christoffel

10/4/14

REALIZING THE TRUTH OF THIS STATEMENT will allow
you to align yourself with the source of all Knowledge. Then you can escape the
darkness of the world of imagination. Imagination is unstable, and even its
brightest moments can turn to darkness in a second. Even its greatest inspirations can be bitterly
discouraged with the slightest provocation. Here there is no
certainty. Here there is no reality. Here nothing is trustworthy, for only
change can be expected. That which is gifted and valued will most certainly be
lost. That which is grim and destructive will most certainly pursue you.

SUCH IS A LIFE LIVED IN IMAGINATION. Such is a life
lived in the isolation of your own thinking. Do not underestimate the power of Knowledge
to liberate you from this hopeless situation where nothing genuine can be
discerned, where no true meaning can be acquired and where nothing that is permanent and real can be
realized and established. It is your salvation out of the darkness of your
separate imagination that will lead you into the reality of life and will
redeem you there.

REALIZE HERE THAT EVEN YOUR GREATEST IDEAS, even
those ideas born of Knowledge, are small in contrast to Knowledge itself. Knowledge
is the great source of your being as it is expressing itself in your individual
life. Therefore, honor what is great and realize what is small. Realize that in
time as Knowledge begins to emerge within you and as you allow it to express
itself ever more freely, you will begin to recognize those thoughts that
emanate from Knowledge and those thoughts that are merely imagined. Yet, even
thoughts from Knowledge, which are far more powerful and effective than any
other thought that you can imagine, even these thoughts which are the seeds of true understanding in the world are
small in contrast to Knowledge.

REMEMBER UPON THE HOUR THE POWER OF THIS IDEA, for
it is given to liberate you from your own confusion and false assumptions. In
your deeper practice periods today, apply your mind actively. Attempt to look
at every idea that you hold dear, whether it be positive or negative. Look at
any idea that you believe in or adhere to. Examine your relationship to the primary ideas that
govern your life. Then, remind yourself after you look at each one that
Knowledge is far greater than that idea. Here you will realize that there is a
means for you to escape the world of ideas and enter the world of relationship,
where everything is viable, real and based upon a foundation that can never
change.

Salvation! Many religions promise salvation from
our sins, errors, missing the mark, being born with original sin, or carrying Karmic
debts, perhaps recorded in the Akashic Records.
In our lives we get the feeling that something is wrong and correcting that, we
learn, requires salvation.

This day, October 3, 2014, I took comfort in it as
an affirmation: “Knowledge is my
salvation.” I’m at the 2014 Encampment
of the New Message, at the YCMA of the Rockies near Estes Park, Colorado with a
hundred other Students. Perhaps one day you will attend one of these events.
Though many of the concepts are simple, it is not easy. No “Instant Karma.”

Looking to the day of this Step in 2000, I underlined almost every sentence on the page.

When it came to the journal, there was not much
recorded, beyond some of the personal pain associated with my unburdening:

6:40
a.m. Tuesday, April 18, 2000 – Feeling hurt by the title/responsibility change
– even though it has set me free. We've gone from mean and lean to
bureaucratic. It was necessary – and probably for the best – but it is a hammer
hit that's hard on my ego.

On
to S2K. When it is time to act I will act.

12:15
a.m. Wednesday, April 19, 2000

Tuesday
had movement on 2 issues -project. A regional housing organization and the
beginning of the public mobility project.

Tom
Christoffel - is my brand.

Many Steps can be recognized as affirmations,
though they may not feel like that when initially encountered for study. “Knowledge is my salvation.” How so? Let us continue.

NNC

P.S. At Step 277, we are into Part Two of Steps, so
if you’ve found this and find some appeal in this or other Steps, you should
really go to the beginning blog post. From here you learn about Steps to Knowledge and
can begin it on the day that makes sense and then progress as needed. You can
use the posts on this blog as a companion if it helps. They will remain in
order in the archives - one per Step.

Often it takes 18 months to get through the Steps
once. For this blog, the pace is one-a-day, but it really makes no difference
how fast you do it, only that you begin, persist and repeat. Posts here provide
a trail that may let you have a virtual companion when and if you want one. One
may have to study alone, as I did in the beginning. There are other Steps
students blogging their experience and you might find a person more like you as
a companion, or use a number of such Steps journeys. There are options as well
through the Free School of the New Message.